


E. Nygma (The Weird Cousin You Never Knew You Had)

by FrozenHearts



Category: Gotham (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Attempted Birthday Parties, Awkward Flirting, Barry Allen kinda.crushing on Iris still, Caitlin reminds Nygma of Kristen Kringle, Characters will be added as they appear I guess, Cupcakes, Dr. Wells doesn't talk about Nygma much, F/M, Minor Barry Allen/Iris West, Nygma and Wells are cousins, Riddles, Seriously Nygma and Wells look a lot alike to me, Set in season 1 of Flash, Set in season 1 of Gotham
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 08:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6072952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenHearts/pseuds/FrozenHearts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once learning about his birthday, Team Flash tries to set up a party for Dr. Harrison Wells and manages to contact an estranged cousin.</p>
<p>Edward Nygma learns of Dr. Wells existence in Central City, and with Arkham Asylum patients on the loose in Gotham, Edward finds himself transferred to the CCPD until things are under control.</p>
<p>This is gonna be one weird.family reunion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was such a trivial detail, a birthday. Really, Harrison Wells had expressed interest in  _not_ celebrating his birthday, and he hadn't even hinted at when it might be.

It took a little snooping on Cisco's part, with Caitlin adamant that this was  _wrong_ and that Wells would never do this to them so why should they do it to him?

But Cisco was triumphant in his findings, and they set about organizing a sort of party- if you could call it that. Ronnie had helped Caitlin set up whatever chairs and tables they could find, making sure he'd be able to navigate his wheelchair around.

"Are you sure he's going to like this?" Caitlin asked for the umpteenth time. Cisco shrugged. They were fidgeting with red and white plaid table cloths that made the cortex feel a little less like a lab and a little more like a barnyard.

"Everyone likea birthdays, Caitlin," he reasoned, "and I already have Barry sorting through his contacts for a guest list -"

"Yeah, about that-"

Cisco rolled his eyes, "Please tell me you didn't speed read through everything?" Barry nodded sheepishly, "Honestly, Wells is not that popular these days."

Caitlin arched a brow, "So does that mean it's just us?" The speedster nodded, ambling over to one of the chairs. Plopping himself down heavily, he read it aloud.

"See?" Barry finished, "Just us, I'm afraid." Ronnie nabbed the list from him, scanning it before adding under his breath, "Huh. Wonder who this is..."

Cisco perked up immediately, "Who? A friend?" 

The paper creased under his fingers, "I dunno- maybe family?"

"Edward Nygma...." Cisco let the name roll on his tongue, screwing up his mouth as he tested it out. Caitlin busied herself with plates, centering the paper dishware just so on each table.

Well,  _table_. They had managed to procure only one, a small circle of a thing. It sat by its lonesome, ready to go. Caitlin smiled as she finished up, giving Ronnie a small peck on his cheek.

"Maybe it's a cousin?" Barru shrugged. "We can ask him later-"

"Ask me what?"

The four rushed to stand in front of the setting, smiling.suspiciously as Dr. Wells rolled in. His wheelchair came to a smooth stop, and the man leaned forward with a knowing grin, clasping his hands on his knees. Caitlin's face was red, and Cisco felt his muscles twinge slightly from smiling for more than a second- seriously, how did people do it?!

"Don't even think about covering this up," Wells said, "I saw it on the security cameras when I came in." A wave of releif went through them and Caitlin sat herself down, "Thank goodness, these heels are  _killing_ me. I don't think I'd be able to stand there for much longer."

Barry sscoffed, crossing his arms, "Caitlin it was like, two seconds."

"Two seconds too many- why don't you try running around in heels, see how your feet feel? Then we can talk." Cisco had taken out his tablet, typing away furiously before grinning to himself, pumping a fist in the air.

"And what is cause to celebrate, Cisco?" Wells teased, rolling himself closer to the table. Cisco bit his lip, hunching his shoulders.

"I may or may not have had Barry speed read through your contacts-"

"Which will never get use to, by the way," Ronnie cut in.

"- and we found a family member who we may or may not have invited to your birthday party here?" 

There was a pregnant pause as Wells and Cisco seemes to stare each other down; Cisco defiantly, Wells with a bottled anger. It seemes to crackle in the air, and Cisco let out a heavy breath after what seemed like two minutes. 

In reality, it was only one. Cisco was never good at holding his breath. 

"Since I can't convince you otherwise to.cancel this party, who is this mystery family of mine?" Wells said.

"Edward Nygma?" Cisco smacked his lips, "Which, when you abbreviate it, it's E. Nygma, or enigma, that's super cool-"

Wells nodded, letting Cisco ramble. Edward Nygma. The name definitely rangsome bells, but oh, it had been a while. Maybe- how old was he now? From the timeline, Edward Nygma should be in his early to mid-twenties. Wells let himself chuckle. By all accounts, according to the last time he saw Nygma, Nygma himself should have attended the funeral.

This was going to be interesting. 

\------------

Edward Nygma was absolutely ecstatic reading the morning paper. If he bragged to Bullock, even Gordon, he'd finally be able to demand some respect. Who knew, right? His cousin, Dr. Harrison Wells, creating a Particle Accelerator?! 

Maybe if he told Miss Kringle, she'd see. See that Ed was important, that he was nicer than that Officer Dougherty. Edward nearly raced towards the records annex, averting any curious glances with a tight lipped grin. The newspaper- Central City news- crinkled im his hands as he burst into the room, "Miss Kringle!"

"What?!" Kristen Kringle jumped at least three feet in the air. Hand over heart, she whirled around, "What?!"

Edward hesitated, gaping as she fixes her glasses, straightened her red hair to fall behind her back. He could never get over how beautiful she was, with her glossy hair and pretty pink lips. How he longed to kiss her-

"-gma?" 

Ed jumped, realizing Kristen was talking to him. Face flushing, he hid the newspaper behind his back. Kristen raised an eyebrow at him, pursing her lips.

"Mr. Nygma?" she repeated, crossing her arms. The seams of her fuzzy green sweater pulled at her arms as she moved.

"R-Right!" Ed raised a finger towards the sky, leaning forward slightly, "Miss Kringle-"

"Edward-" Kristen began, but Ed cut her off.

"What is black and white and read all over?" Ed asked, giggling to himself. It was a simple riddle he knew, but he wanted Kristen to figure it out; she never bothered to try before. Gordon tried, but only sometimes. Ed waited patiently as she hesitated before answering, "A newspaper? Mr. Nygma-"

"Correct!" Ed exclaimed, producing the newspaper for her. She took it, sighing.

"Central City Picture News?" she said.

Edward didn't wait for her to finish, "Dr. Harrison Wells. My cousin, actually, has successfully built a Particle Accelerator. Isn't that neat?"

Kristen shrugged, and Ed thought he could see a thoughtful look in her eye as she scanned the fine print, took in the picture of Wells printed on the page.

"He..... looks a lot like you," Kristen finally said with a nod, handing the paper back to him. Ed grinned as he took it. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Miss Kringle," Ed tucked the paper under his arm, and the door creaked open, an officer yelling, "Nygma! Gordon wants to talk to you!"

Ed nodded, turning back to Kristen, "Well, I, uh- duty calls, and all that-"

Kristen gave him a smile, "Have a good day, Ed."

Ed gave her one last grin before following the officer out of thr annex room, head held high.

There was still hope after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wonky spelling in the previous chapter, I don't have a beta yet

Joe had just finished his shift when Singh called him into his office.

"What's up, Captain?" Joe asked, crossing his arms as he stepped through the doorframe. Singh was sitting at his desk, poring over a stack of papers. His face was contprted with frustration as he beckoned Joe to sit. The leather was rough, dipping under his weight, "Captain Singh?"

Shaking his head, Singh said, "Just some reports from Commissioner Gordon." 

Joe pursed his lips. He had seen plenty of stuff about Jim Gordon in the paper, little snippets Central City Picture News put in from Gotham City. Really, the place was not good; crimes were committed every other day, and most recent he heard of was the Wayne murder case.

"What's he up to these days?" Joe asked.

A pause. "Gotham has been overrun by some Asylum patients. Gordon is transferring their forensics department to Central while the rest head to Starling or stay behind to clean up the mess."

Joe felt his pulse speed up- was he serious?

"Arkham Asylum patients?" Joe practically shouted, "That's the most dangerous asylum in the country, how-"

Singh held a hand up, silencing him, "An inmate tricked one of the guards into thinking she worked there. Let all of 'em loose."  

Shit.

Joe rubbed his nose, "So why are they sending their police over here?"

"Not all of them, we're just handling their forensics department until Gotham is deemed safe again."

Joe chuckled, "Captain, Gotham was  _never safe_ to begin with."

Singh shrugged. It was true- out of the three cities, Gotham was notorious for trouble. Mobs were crawling everywhere, police were bought by gangsters under the table. No one helped anyone and it was rare when the Gotham City Police Department owned up to their crimes. But this? This took the friggin' cake.

"Well, anyway, the department is small, so there won't be much trouble," Singh slid a few papers over the desk.

"How small are we talking here?" Joe skimmed over the top sheet. It didn't seem too important, Joe figured he'd look over it later. 

"Eh, just one guy," Singh explained, "some Edward Nygma guy."

Joe laughed, "What happened to the others?" Singh's face was blank as he deadpanned.

"Got caught smuggling body parts from the morgue. Nygma was reinstated out of necessity."

Joe muttered a curse under his breath. This transfer was going to be interesting indeed.

\----------

Iris was talking to Barry when she saw the customer walk in. The bell tolled above the door, announcing his presence. The man waited patiently by the door, a large black suitcase in one hand and a newspaper tucked under his arm. Iris smiled, placing her tray on the counter to greet him and show him to a table.

"Hi! Welcome to Jitters," Iris said, ushering the man inside, "Our special coffee of the day is a caramel machiatto-"

"Thank you, but I avert from drinking anything with sugar," the man nodded. Iris glanced at Barry, who chuckles to himself as Iris sat the man at the table next to Barry's. Iris nodded.

"I see," Iris nodded.

"Yes, you see," the man cleared his throat, "when the body ingests too much sugar-"

Iris smiles falsely, "Well, I can get you a black coffee. How's that sound?"

The man gave her a tight lipped smile, "That would be lovely, thank you."

 The rest of her shift, Iris couldn't help but notice how...  _precise_ the man was as he sipped his coffee with the most minimal of sips, his back ramrod straight as he pored over a crisp newspaper. Every once in a while, he would check his watch, then turn back to the paper.

It was about an hour or so later that the man got up to leave, knocking into Barry's small table on his way. The man's face broke into a nervous wide grin as he apologized.

"I'm so sorry, sir-" he began to babble, and Barry looked like he was surpressing a laugh as he shook his head.

"No harm done," Barry cut the man off, holding out his hand, "I haven't seen you in town are you new?"

The ma nodded, "Just transferred from my current job for the time being. Oh! I'm going to be late-"

Barry shook his head, "I know the feeling, I'm surprised my boss doesn't just fire me, ha ha."

The man offered a weak laugh in support of the joke, "Well, it was nice speaking with you, and I do apologize again for.... well, this...." He gestured to the table before walking off, the bell tolling his departure from above the door.

 Iris quickly forgot about the man, laughing at Barry's awkward attempt at making friends before her boss yelled from the register to get back to work.


End file.
